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    March 2010

  • Learning how you learn, photographically and otherwise

    I recently finished my annual class built around photographing the Tucson Rodeo. The weather was great and the pictures were even better! Most everyone we encountered was happy to be photographed. The class was a small group, so everyone got lots of attention. Because it was such a small group, I had time to analyze how each person learned. By the time the class was over, events had reminded me that in some ways, the most important thing ANY student should learn is exactly how they do learn.

    12

  • Valuing creativity in music (and photography)

    I recently wrote about the similarities and differences between music and photography. While we experience each through very different senses, they also have a lot in common. Both have long, rich histories, which I pondered briefly in the last blog entry. This week, I am thinking about the fact that while both are used artistically and commercially, their respective approaches to compensating creators are very different.

    08

  • Covers in music (and photography)

    I have often pondered the similarities, differences and connections between music and photography. The former is something I have no talent for, other than the ability to enjoy it. The latter is something that I continually find both challenging and rewarding. I have considered these two media throughout my life, initially, as a toe-tapping teenager and now as a working, creative professional. Some recent reading spurred me to sit down and try to make some sense out of the jumble of ideas that I have about photography and music. Some of what I settled on is more philosophical and some is more practical, resulting in two separate blog entries, of which this is the first.

    05

  • Internet good news and bad news

    It is such a cliché to say, “What did we do before the Internet,” yet it also is a good question. For my teenage daughter, there is no such thing as life without the Internet. I do remember that time and as a rule, I prefer today’s technology over the “old days,” of going to libraries, photocopying pages, writing notes, etc. I am not here to wax nostalgic about times gone by. I am here to offer a few new, useful resources. Then I will talk about something of a drawback to the Internet.

    01

    • February 2010

  • Buying various types of camera insurance

    A friend is heading off to India on a fascinating assignment. Besides giving him advice on India, our conversation turned to the potential risks there. Inevitably, (and wisely) this led us to the question of insurance, particular in terms of cameras. I walked him through the various types of insurance I have. As I did that, I realized how often I mentioned the mistakes that I made over the years, as I figured out what to do in terms of insurance. Wanting to save him (and others) from the problems I encountered, I transformed that conversation into this blog entry.

    26

  • Darwinian competition among photographers….

    I am now working out West. Last week I was in California photographing for my ongoing project on the foreclosure crisis. This week I am in Arizona photographing and teaching a workshop at the Tucson Rodeo. I am thrilled to be out of the cold in the Northeast. Since coming West, I have been watching some of the winter Olympics. That way I get to look at plenty of snow and ice, without, of course, the shivering that comes with it. Watching the competition in Vancouver, I noted the ever-narrower differences between the medalists and the also-rans. This got me to thinking about evolutionary biology and that lead me back to photographers.

    22

  • Thinking points for any photographer

    I was recently catching up on my reading of photography magazines and enjoying one of my favorite magazines. I remembered what great a resource it was and how much I had learned from the recently started publication. Then I also remembered it was free, which made it all that much of a better “read.” I am assuming they make their money via advertising because they are not making it via subscriptions. I think one reason they are so successful (and get lots of advertising) is that they do a good job of staying “on message.” They focus on their one area of interest and largely ignoring the rest of the vast world of digital photography.

    19

  • What is my naming convention and how did I come up with it?

    In the last blog entry, I explained the importance of a naming convention and offered some things to think about in creating your own. In this blog entry, I will tell you my thinking in creating the system that I use. It is NOT for everyone, but it works for me. If you understand how I came to structure my set-up, maybe it will make it easier when you start to make your own system.

    15

  • What is a naming convention and why do you need one?

    What is a naming convention? Is that when a bunch of names get together and agree on who will be their presidential candidate? Nah, seriously, a naming convention is one of the most important parts of digital imaging workflow and yet most photographers have little idea what it is, let alone how to use it.

    12

  • Grants made easy and grants made hard

    Is it my imagination or are some photography competitions almost begging for submissions? Lately, I have been inundated with calls for work! I have been gathering various these requests for submissions in order to make a blog entry on the subject. I am not sure if it was my looking for them that made me extra sensitive or maybe it might be how the web creates a kind of echo chamber so when one site lists a competition, five of my friends send me the same notification.

    08

  • Onward and __ward in the world of stock photography (part two of two)

    Because I make my living primarily as a stock photographer I spend a great deal of time and energy trying to understand the “stock market.” (I am not referring to the one in New York City’s financial district.) Today, the market for and suppliers of stock photography cross the globe. So the more I know about the business, the more successful I will be within that growing global market. In the first part of this two-part blog entry I wrote about which of my own images seem to work better and why. Now I am writing about other concerns that any stock photographer (practicing or aspiring) should think about.

    05

  • Onward and __ward in stock photography (part one of two)

    I make my living primarily as a stock photographer meaning most of my income comes from licensing the publication of existing images. This is compared to being primarily an assignment photographer or a teacher of photography (though I do plenty of both.) The stock photography business is known to be increasingly competitive, with too much supply and not enough demand, the classic signs of a declining market. A few recent experiences served to remind me which parts of the market for stock photography are still doing reasonably well and why!

    01

    • January 2010

  • Variations on a theme

    In my photography, my teaching and my discussions with other photographers, the idea of variations on a theme comes up often. For me, one of the joys of looking at photographs is seeing the different ways that photographers interpret the same thing. Yet, when some photographers come together to talk or photograph they can get territorial about their imagery and their ideas. Recent events have reminded me why this kind of thinking is limiting.

    29

  • My favorite part of my favorite class

    I recently wound up my time in Asia with a stop in Singapore, where I gave a few short presentations to large audiences as well as some longer workshops for smaller audiences. Everyone I worked with seemed happy with what I did, so I will be going back next year. So keep an eye on the workshops page of my website to see exactly when I will be going back and what I will be doing.  The very last thing I did when I was there this year was to teach my favorite class.  I ended that class with my favorite teaching exercise.

    25

  • My long-time “project” on Communism

    During my recent trip to Vietnam, I put to rest the lingering anxieties, stereotypes and misconceptions that I had held on to concerning that country. On that same trip, I also “finished” a long-standing (and rather informal) “personal project” that I had been working on for a couple decades. Since I was eighteen I have been subconsciously trying to “understand” Communism. The project was not an overtly photographic one, but photography certainly helped me in my pursuit of better understanding of that ideology.

    22

  • Vietnam as a war, Vietnam as a country

    When I told my seventeen-year old daughter I was going to Vietnam, she was very impressed. I ostensibly went to visit a friend who lives there and to try to see the country through his eyes. I also went to photograph (and scout locations for a potential photo workshop.) I am pretty sure my daughter thinks of Vietnam in connection with the TV show, the Amazing Race and maybe the musical, Miss Saigon. For American men of a certain age (like me,) Vietnam conjures up something very different.

    18

  • Some more new resources for photographers

    I recently spent five short days in Vietnam. I will be blogging about that soon, and posting a pod-cast exploring my reactions to that country. I want a few days to digest my experience in terms of blogging and few weeks to make the multi-media piece. In the mean time, I wanted to share some information and a few web sites that I came across recently. The connection to Vietnam is that although I was well into the developing world there, because of the Internet, I was able to keep up on many things happening in the world of photography.

    15

  • How do we think about the “age” of a photograph?

    I have been thinking/writing a lot recently about how photographs “age.” I do not mean physically, though that is an important question. I mean in terms of how we experience them as old or new. Recently, I blogged about my wife’s current project, photographing three or more generations of Indian women and turning those portraits into animated, multi-generational family portraits. Last week, I wrote about the importance of making actual, physical prints in order to preserve important memories. More recently, I was corresponding with a friend about his images, which were made decades ago. We were trying to figure out when an image changes from something contemporary (even if not recent) into a historical document. Since most photographs capture a moment in time, all this pondering makes some sense. On the other hand, it may just as likely be that I am extra sensitive to the passing of time, having just had a birthday.

    11

  • One small history of Indian photography – Part two

    (In the first chapter of this blog entry, I introduced Prabhu Photo, a state-of-the-art photo lab in Bangalore, India where I had my E-6 slide film processed for merely a decade. The changing business climate for Prabhu photo is a bellwether for the changing imaging landscape in India.) I was such a regular at Prabhu that I kept my own loupe (magnifier) at the lab and I also had my own set of cotton gloves for handling the film without fingerprints. The young men who worked for Prabhu ended up knowing the drill as well, including knowing not to cut my film and what kind of coffee to bring me half ay through my edits to keep me awake. Those sessions at the light box alternated between exciting and heart-breaking, depending on how well or badly I had done in capturing on film what had been in front of my camera.

    08

  • One small history of Indian photography – Part one

    I have been spending a lot of time at Prabhu Photo, a state-of-the-art photo lab in Bangalore, India. Back in the day, in the last century, (hah,) when I was shooting color slides, I used to have them processed at that same lab. Now that I have gone digital, I am going there to have color prints made from digital files. These prints are mostly for the various Indians I, or my wife, have been photographing. In the time I have known and worked with the proprietor, Allama Prabhu, I have seen his business grow and grow and more recently contract and contract. The change in the business of Prabhu Photo is something of a microcosm for the history of photographic processes in India. The amazing thing is that I am only talking about a short, thirteen year “history.”

    04

  • Face to face with the law of unintended consequences

    Recent experiences have reminded me of one of my favorite economist’s terms, the so-called “law of unintended consequences.” It is not a law in the literal sense, but refers to the idea that actions of people—and especially of organizations—often have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Economists and other social scientists have long understood this, but organizations and individuals often ignore it at their peril. I am not sure why, but when I am in South Asia, I think about this more often than I do at home.

    01

    • December 2009

  • Indian odds and ends

    My time in Calcutta, India, has ended and I am now in Bengaluru, (formerly Bangalore,) with my wife’s family. Considering how bad the weather is in the U.S. right now, I am particularly pleased to be here where it is warm and dry, working in familiar territory. This trip to India has been a bit of a whirlwind, with five-day stops in both Chennai (formerly Madras) and Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta.) Now I am starting a longer stay in Bengaluru. All this moving about has left me with bits and pieces of things to think about, which will make up this blog entry.

    28

  • At the intersection of the art and craft of photography

    While spending a week in Calcutta, India, I saw (and photographed) many things. Having previously spent little time in Calcutta, everything I experienced and pondered there seemed to be doubly intense. This was quite a sensation, since going anywhere in India is always so intense. In the future, I will share some of my experiences and thoughts that came out of my time in the place also known as the “City of Joy.” One thing I did that was especially interesting was to see an exhibition by an Indian photographer, Prashant Panjiar. The work I saw exists almost perfectly at the intersection of the art and craft of photography.

    25

  • Thoughts on getting feedback

    The class that I was teaching in India ended on the same note that many of my classes do. The students had made good progress and wanted to keep their creative growth going, after the class ended. I teased them, saying that about a week after the class they would all be “master” photographers. I say that to almost all my classes, because the things learned in a workshop take about a week to become an innate part of any student’s photography. The follow-up point is that about another week later, the skills they had learned in the class would start to diminish. The end of the joke is that about a month later, they would still be better photographers than when they entered the class, but no longer the “masters” they had briefly been. So what did I tell them to do to try to hold on to the “mastery” they had briefly achieved?

    21

  • Singaporeans and Creativity

    I just finished classes in Singapore and India, two countries that could not appear to be more different. In Singapore I taught evening seminars, while in India, I taught a class over four days on “light, shadow, twilight and night.” Regardless of length, all the classes were journeys of sorts, physical and/or intellectual. On all of these “trips,” I was accompanied by different groups of Singaporean photographers. Working in such divergent countries, just a few days apart, got me thinking.

    18

  • Debating ideas or being run over by change

    I have been having an email exchange with a still photographer I know who is conflicted about doing work in video, as he is getting paid to do just that kind of work. His experience of being knee deep in a debate, while the issues at the core of that same debate swirl all around you, that is something I have experienced a number of times in the last decade. The latest debate, about whether still photographers should embrace video, looks to be another one of these equally intense debates. For me, the only thing different about this debate is that I am now old enough (and maybe wise enough) to be able to take a step back and analyze it a bit better than I have with similar previous debates. Whether I will make the wise decision is something only time will tell.

    14

  • Watching as artists embrace and transform a new technology

    In my last blog post, I discussed ways artists/photographers use technology in both intended and unintended ways in order to tell their stories and/or express their ideas. This kind of hybrid-ization of technology is an ongoing process. For me, the latest stop on that path is in multi-media/video. My wife’s work, animating family photos, is her newest step in that ongoing process. I was recently reading about a new technology that I have already been using in its intended form. I realized how ripe that same technology is for experimentation. Soon artists/photographers will be exploiting that same technology in new and unintended ways. I think the really fun part will be watching this happen, observing the explorations as they happen rather than looking back after the fact and only then connecting the dots.

    11

  • Technology as artistic opportunity and aesthetic hurdle

    My wife, who is a photographer, has been producing some compelling animations / videos based on multi-generational portraits of Indian women. In the process of making the work, she went through a series of hurdles, just like any creative person would. She first struggled through the process of conceptualizing and defining the project. Once she knew what she wanted to do, she then applied for and had good luck getting a grant to fund the initial photographing and the post-production of the work. Over time the project evolved. She has recently completed the creation of the finished pieces. The work uses some of the latest digital technology to raise some interesting questions about time, memory and photographs. In the process of making the work, it seems she got a little too far in front of the existing technology. So much so that one of our current projects is to figure out what existing technology can be used to present her work in the exact way that she wants it be experienced.

    07

  • A new look at complaining about the “good old days”

    I was exchanging e-mails with Bob Krist, a freelance photographer who works regularly on assignment for National Geographic Traveler. Our dialogue started with the idea that when we were younger, the older photographers we admired complained about the good old days. I wondered if, today, when he and I are no longer young and are more prone to complain, are we just being nostalgic or is something really being lost in today’s photography market/climate?

    04

    • November 2009

  • Video vs photography, past, present and future

    What I know about video (other than what I have taught myself about editing in Final Cut Pro) could easily fit on one small page. What I will learn about video in the coming decades is unknowable. But, if I had to venture a guess, I would bet that fairly soon, I will be among the thousands of working photographers who will soon have to decide just how much more we want to, or need to, know about video.

    30

  • Thinking about photographs, not photography

    I spend a great deal of time thinking about photography (duh.) Recently, I had some encounters where I was pressed to think about the photograph itself. As I was thinking about that, I noted that most of my energy is concentrated on the process of photographing, rather than on the outcome of that process, the actual photograph. As I listened to other people talking about actual photographs, I had a “chicken vs. egg” moments, where I was unclear, which came first, the process of photography or the product?

    27

  • The biggest little gear discovery that I recently made

    When I was at the big Photo Plus trade show in New York City in October, I was looking at all sorts of new gear for photographers. I saw many things there, including one item that completely captured my attention. Before blogging about it, I wanted to buy one and try it. I have done that and now I am ready to tell you about the biggest little gear discovery that I made at the Photo Plus trade show in New York City.

    23

  • A photographic collaboration ten years in the making

    Ten years ago, I became part of a collaborative project photographing an exquisite old building in Tucson, Arizona. For me, photographing the building was the easy part. All I had to do was draw on the skills I often use in my previous “light studies,” my ongoing series of photo essays on the light and atmosphere of different places. The hard part was collaborating with two other photographers, while keeping my eye on the long-term prize, the finished project. It took a long time but the effort is near coming to fruition.

    20

  • Lessons in the business of photography

    Last Monday, November 9th, I gave a presentation in New York City at the Apple store in SoHo. It was titled “It’s the journey not the destination (but who does not like a good destination shoot?)” I was one of two photographers presenting that night. When I agreed to do this talk, months ago, I thought it might have made for a somewhat interesting evening. Little did I know, just how interesting that whole evening would actually be!

    16

  • Seasons for motorcycle riding (and photographing)

    With the arrival of November and the seriously cold weather, I just put my motorcycle away for the season. The way I was taught to “winterize” my bike involves a series of steps; changing the oil/filter, filling the gas tank and then chemically treating that new fuel. The last step involves partly disassembling the motorcycle in order to remove the battery, which comes inside with me for the winter. At the end, I look back with a bit of sadness at my pride and joy because she is splayed in pieces across the garage, as I pull the garage door shut. The whole process is slow, precise and requires a certain methodology. At the same time, it also marks the change of seasons for me.

    13

  • An impromptu course in design of web-sites for photographers

    These days, all photographers, from commercial/documentary to portrait/fine-art, live and die by their web sites. That should mean that most websites for photographers would be built with the same goal, showing the photographer’s work to its best advantage. You also would think that an equally important goal would be making those same sites easy to navigate and very user friendly. Based on my recent experience reviewing 13 photographer’s web-sites, those assumptions would be largely wrong.

    09

  • November grab bag of resources

    November is upon us! With October ending, I have new web resources to share. The way I work is that as I see something on the web that I find interesting, I drop it into a Word document titled “New_In_Process.” When the end of the month rolls around and/or I have enough items to share it becomes a blog entry, like this.

    06

  • Philadelphia vs New York in baseball (and photography)

    Professional baseball’s World Series is underway and the Philadelphia Phillies are playing the New York Yankees. Having lived in both Philadelphia and New York, I know just which team I am rooting for! My experience in each place, as a resident and as a photographer, strongly shapes my team loyalty.

    02

    • October 2009

  • The top ten things photo workshop attendees need know and do

    I just finished a couple workshops in two very different places. I have found that whether I am teaching in places as far away as Greece or as nearby as Cape Cod, certain things are the same in all workshops. I was going to call this “ten commandments for those attending photography workshops,” buy I thought that such a title might be misconstrued as religious in nature.

    30

  • Just back from the photo trade show

    I am just back from the big Photo Plus trade show in New York City. On one level, it was like years past with big crowds, lots of new toys and plenty of old friends to see and catch up with. On the other hand, some things were new and interesting and that is what I am going to be sharing in this post.

    26

  • The Wells Point after one year

    The Wells Point celebrated its first birthday yesterday. It has been quite a year. We launched last year just before the big Photo Plus trade show in New York City. This year, I am writing from NYC, where I am again attending the Photo Plus show. So, just what has happened within The Wells Point since the website went live on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008?

    23

  • Learning the language of photography

    Besides teaching workshops around the world, I run a few small on-line critique groups. These usually arise out of workshops where the students in the group have bonded and do not want to end the critiquing/dialogue that is at the core of any good workshop. So we meet in a conference call approximately every six weeks, catch-up on photography happenings and review work together on-line. Some interesting dialogues are born in these meetings. One particular thread of discussion from one meeting is well worth sharing.

    19

  • Autumn’s grab bag of web resources

    I am just back from a fast and fun workshop on Cape Cod. The Autumn weather was great for photographing. The many subjects we photographed (beaches at sunrise, cranberry harvesting, etc.) were fascinating. I am about to head off to New York City for the big Photo Plus Expo, the annual trade show “for professionals and advanced amateurs in the photographic and imaging industries.” I expect to leave that show with lots of info to share. Today’s blog is another grab bag of similar information I have been gathering that I hope you find worthwhile.

    16

  • Golfers, psychotherapists and photographers

    The legendary golfer, Jack Nicklaus is supposed to have said: “Golf is 90% mental.” So, you are asking yourself, what does golf (a sport I normally have no interest in) have to do with photography, the pursuit that I love? More than I ever thought, actually.

    12

  • Photographers and painters!?!?

    I am just back from Greece where I was teaching and photographing. During my photography workshop, there were also two painting workshops run by the same organization. The “photographers” ate and drank along with the “painters,” which made for some laugh-filled meals. There also was a subtle but interesting competition/ divergence going on between the various media.

    09

  • Seasonal rhythms in motorcycle riding and photography

    The arrival of autumn, my favorite season, brings a number of changes to my life. On a larger level, the school year begins, defining much of my wife and daughter’s schedules until the next summer returns. The looming colder weather also means it is time put my motorcycle away for the winter. Thinking about all of that lead to some thinking about photography. (Are you surprised?)

    05

  • A grab bag sent from Greece

    I write this from Santorini, Greece, where the light simply is amazing. I am having so much fun during my first trip to Greece that this blog post is going to be limited to a brief grab bag of things I have been gathering recently. I hope you find them interesting.

    02

    • September 2009

  • Isolated or interacting, that is the question

    Back in August, I wrote a blog post titled “A big, what is the meaning of life, kind of question.” I was intrigued when a friend wrote me back with his answers to the questions that I had posed (and then answered.) Some of his answers were so specific to his life and work that, though they were interesting to me, I am not sure the points he raised would be of interest to anyone else. He did raise one point that is almost universal for photographers, which became the seed of another blog post.

    28

  • What can the assistant bring to the photographer?

    When I wrote the recent post on “Group questions versus individual questions ns,” I was obviously writing about that topic. But, I was also using the process of writing to clarify my own thinking on that subject. As I started to answer a query from a student in the Fotovision class that I just finished in California, I ended up similarly clarifying my own thinking on another topic.

    25

  • Group questions versus individual questions

    I just finished teaching a workshop in Berkeley, California. Being in the San Francisco Bay area, the light was great. The group was very supportive of each other and the work they did was interesting. The questions they asked were many and good. They got me thinking about the questions I am often asked in workshops, in general and what I am trying to do with this blog.

    21

  • Why photographers need editors

    There are numerous aphorisms about what separates the serious/successful photographer from the amateurs/posers. Great quotes, such as: “Hobby photographers worry about equipment; Professional photographers worry about money; Master photographers worry about light” are already out there. In this blog entry, I propose to add one more to the list.

    18

  • Stock photography is dead, long live stock photography (Act 3 of 3)

    This is the last of three posts exploring my perspective on the business of stock photography. Like so many blog posts, this started as a simple question from a friend, which I answered in part one. It morphed into something bigger because of what was happening in the larger world of stock photography. As I alluded to in the second in this series, the news is not good. In this entry, I explore how that same bad news is hurting me personally and harming our larger cultural collectively.

    14

  • Stock photography is dead, long live stock photography (Act 2 of 3)

    This is the second of three posts explaining on my perspective on the business of stock photography. By way of background, I should say there is a reason I based the title of these entries on that famous quote about transitions within a monarchy when I wrote; “Stock photography is dead, long live stock photography.” The quote alludes to the idea that within a kingdom (and now within stock photography,) the old leadership and structure have ended but at the exact same moment, a new leadership and structure is already in place.

    11

  • Stock photography is dead, long live stock photography (Act 1 of 3)

    Since the majority of my income is derived from stock photography, I pay a lot of attention to what is going on in the stock photography business. Three recent events got me thinking about the state of stock photography, prompting me to write three different blog entries. This is the first of three.

    07

  • An end of summer grab bag

    With the Labor Day holiday here and cool Autumn weather in the air, I am enjoying one last summer weekend before the working year (and the school year) begins. I have recently been gathering bits and pieces to share and so that is what this blog entry will be doing.

    04

    • August 2009

  • Working outside of the Photo-shop centered mainstream

    On my ride home from the Maine Media workshops, where I was teaching a class in street photography, I reflected on everything that happened during the workshop. It was a great group of photographers, who grew as individuals AND supported each other as they went through the sometimes-difficult process of growing and changing. Many things that were said and/or done are potential seeds of blog entries. One difficult question that I heard from two different photographers is what I am writing about this week.

    31

  • An update after a week at the Maine Media Workshops

    I am finishing up a great week at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. There were a whole bunch of small highlights during the class that I think are worth sharing.

    28

  • A big, what is the meaning of life, kind of a question

    A former student/intern wrote me with a big, “what is the meaning of life” kind of a question. The process of answering her ended up becoming something of a dialogue within myself about photography and “meaning” for me. After I sorted things out in my own thinking, I wrote her an answer I could also use as a blog posting.

    24

  • How photojournalists frame issues, for better or worse

    I recently read an article by Steve Raymer, a former National Geographic photographer who now teaches at Indiana University. He was discussing how photojournalists “frame” issues. He was not talking about the literal framing of images or the composition, but rather how concepts and ideas are organized and presented by photojournalists. That got me thinking about my own work and how I had “framed” different issues that I had explored over the years. I also started to wonder if the way I framed things had helped or hurt my career.

    21

  • Was I really seeing five brides trashing dresses in one place?

    During a motorcycle ride over the past weekend, I went to Oakland beach in Warwick, Rhode Island. I was enjoying the view and watching one wedding photographer at work with a bride as she rolled around in the ocean water as she “trashed the dress.” When I looked farther down the same beach I saw four other brides and photographers doing much the same thing. It is true, it was a particularly nice Saturday in August and a good day for a wedding. Still was I really seeing five brides trashing dresses in one place?

    17

  • Free, useful photography tutorials

    Last Monday night I spent an hour watching an on-line photography tutorial, in this case a lesson in Photoshop. This coming Monday I plan to do the same. In fact, for as long as the “Monday Night Light” program is continuing, I hope to be enjoying free photography tutorials.

    14

  • The keys to good street photography

    I will soon be heading north to teach a class in “Street Photography” at the Maine Media Workshops. I was organizing my lessons, assignments and the images I will show the class, when a photographer who wanted to attend but could not, wrote me with some questions. I realized that answering his questions would help him grow AND help me improve the class I am about to teach.

    10

  • Summer freedom

    Summer time is supposed to be about relaxing and freedom from school/work. With that in mind, this post is going to be a bit more relaxed than some recent entries. I will mostly talk about the free things I have been taking advantage of recently.

    07

  • A poignant reminder of the brevity of our lives

    In my last blog post, I was responding to an aspiring photographer’s query on how to advance his career. That got me to thinking about the career paths of photographers, including, but not limited to my own. I went on to update my knowledge of the career path of another photographer that I started out working along side of a couple decades ago. Reading about him, I was poignantly reminded of life’s brevity….

    03

    • July 2009

  • An aspiring photographer wrote me…

    An aspiring photographer wrote me: “What advice might you give me on how to find opportunities (no matter how small), where I might find some interest in my work, or how to best focus my efforts.” Such a question leaves me wary because answering it takes away from what little time I have left between earning a living as a photographer and nurturing this site. As I pondered how to answer him, I realized the answer was really another blog post in the making.

    31

  • When Jeff Sedlik talks, people (better) listen

    I am a dedicated daily reader of the online forums, APAnet and APAdigital. I was following a discussion thread in one of them when it came to an abrupt and final end. That was because, after all the talking around the subject, one person made a few succinct points that got to the heart of the topic and then, everyone finally “got it.” The writer was Jeff Sedlik and when he talks, people (better) listen.

    27

  • Teaching mastery, ethics and excellence, in business and/or photography.

    I was discussing ethics and publication photography with a friend. We were e-mailing back and forth in the wake of the recent news of how the New York Times Magazine photos that were not supposed to be “photoshop-ped” actually were. He was joking that the only thing left was to ban digital cameras and force publication photographers back to using film. After laughing at the thought, we agreed that even that drastic a step would not make a difference. The history of photography is full of folks who exploited film’s perceived documentary nature to their own advantage.

    24

  • An almost foolproof on-line submission system for competitions

    I was recently preparing my submission for the Aperture Portfolio Prize competition. I had a bit of a pleasant surprise when I submitted work from my project: Foreclosed Dreams. Though I have mixed feelings about competitions that require you to buy something, in this case, the subscription to Aperture that I had to buy in order to enter seemed to be a good investment. I entered because I am at the point in the project where I have done some work, but before I decide to invest lots of time (and money,) I want some outside feedback on that work.

    20

  • So you want to teach photography workshops?

    A peer asked me how she could make money “teaching photography workshops as a business.” After picking myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I gathered my thoughts and reflected on how I started teaching photography. Tracing the path I took from to aspiring instructor to veteran workshop teacher resulted in this blog entry.

    17

  • The New York Times Magazine drives a nail into its own coffin

    I am not normally one to commend another photographer’s downfall, but this week, an unusual situation occurred. Doubly so, because I have, as politicians say, “a dog in this fight.” So, I am in fact going to pile on with all the others condemning the deception by Portuguese photographer Edgar Martins.

    13

  • Pricing images for publications: Part Two

    In the last blog entry, I explored a scenario where you (or me) would need to calculate the use fee for an image to be used in a publication. I directed readers to a few useful resources for calculating that proposed licensee fee. Now, I want to offer a few thinking points that should be part of your process when pricing images for publication.

    10

  • Bits and pieces of photo news on a lazy holiday weekend

    Okay, I admit it. I took the weekend off in terms of writing something “deep and meaningful” for the blog. It has been raining almost every day through June, so the recent perfect weather was too much. Thus, I am only posting a brief (but still useful) list of new resources for photographers to check out.

    06

  • Pricing images for publications: Part One

    A friend/former student wrote me with a great question. He wrote: “I have an opportunity to license some images to a travel company for their brochures. I’ve never done this before and therefore I’d love to get your quick opinion of what the right price range should be. The email below is from the director of communications from the travel company.”

    03

    • June 2009

  • Kodachrome is dead, long live Kodachrome

    With the announcement that Kodak is discontinuing its legendary color slide film, Kodachrome, I find myself frequently humming Paul Simon’s song about that film.  Then I got to thinking about the film, which I once used in VERY large quantities. Finally, I came to consider the film’s successor(s.)  Just like when the ruler of a country dies, he (or she) might be gone but the next leader is soon in place and most importantly, the institution lives on. That is how I see Kodachrome’s and photography’ continuing forward.

    29

  • Outsourcing and Cost-Benefit Analysis

    Before you skip this entry or fall asleep trying to read it because those two economics terms, please read on. Both of these are things all of us do every day in our ordinary routines. When it comes to their businesses, serious photographers, whether established or aspiring professionals, definitely need to think clearly about outsourcing and cost-benefit analysis.

    26

  • What’s new: A few new resources….

    What’s new? Actually, lots of stuff! This blog entry is a series of blurbs about new things I came across that I think would be of interest to most photographers. Every time I see something new and interesting I cut and paste the URL into an ever-growing list. When that list gets too big I gather the best stuff and share it.

    22

  • Frequent Flyer (Part Two:) Commuting for personal and creative purposes

    I fly a lot for work, like most photographers.  I initially commuted for personal reasons like most people do. I wanted to be with my family as much as possible, while I was working on projects that seemed to always be “somewhere else.”  Eventually commuting became an integral part of my creative process as a photographer. This blog post is an argument for the idea that most photographers who work on long-term projects should consider building commuting into their creative processes.

    19

  • Frequent Flyer (Part One:) Before and After Digital

    Like most photojournalists, I fly a lot for work. My experiences flying (both good and bad) can be divided into two periods, pre-digital and post digital. “Going digital” has had obvious benefits technologically, but also unanticipated benefits socially, especially when I am traveling.

    15

  • The most important piece of free imaging software that exists

    I helped a friend out recently with an imaging software issue she was having. At the end of our phone call I noted that I had introduced her to THE most important piece of free imaging software that exists. I ended our chat by saying “I think every photographer working digitally should have this software on his or her computer’s desktop.” This blog entry is a small step towards making that happen.

    12

  • Photographer’s Daily To Do List

    I wish I could say I wrote the following photographer’s daily to do list, but I did NOT. The Ohio photographer, George Remington, wrote it. You can see his work at: http://www.georgeremington.com Read the list carefully, to begin to get a better sense of all the things involved in being a professional photographer.

    08

  • Unraveling the “mystical and unapproachable” in photography

    One of my more regular correspondents, Michael Colby, wrote me with a two-pronged query: “I’d be interested in reading a blog entry about what set you on the path of being a photographer?” He also asked “I still remember, when I was in high school trying to get into serious photography, visiting a camera store. It was almost a mystical and unapproachable place. I take it that serious camera stores were not “consumer friendly’ in the way that any retailer has to be today.” The answers to both his points are intertwined within my own experiences as a young photographer.

    05

  • Resource pages updated on The Wells Point

    I just spent a good deal of time updating the resources pages on The Wells Point. I also added a couple new categories.  The whole point of the resource pages is to introduce photographers to the world of opportunities and resources available to them. Some enable photographers to show or sell imagery while others suggest ways to fund the production of such work.  Some of the resources recently changed their URLs, while others have gone out of business. Those can be found starting at http://thewellspoint.com/about/

    01

    • May 2009

  • On the question of creativity

    I had an e-mail exchange recently with student on the question of creativity. He was not asking about software or lens choices, though those are perfectly valid questions at different points. He was asking the biggest, toughest question of all. I was impressed that he was able to articulate the question. He seemed impressed with my answer. That was when I realized that our exchange was worthy of a blog piece.

    29

  • Gobsmacked by a new piece of technology

    Gobsmacked is a British colloquial expression meaning flabbergasted, astounded or shocked. It is one of my favorite words, partly because it is a great example of onomatopoeia, where the sound of the word suggests what it describes. I was recently gobsmacked, when my daughter showed me a blurb in a magazine showing a great new idea for a simple technology. I cannot remember if the smacking sound was the result of me slapping the side of my own head or my chin flapping in amazement, but gobsmacked I was.

    25

  • China vs India: Politically, photographically and especially briefly

    A week in China is hardly enough time to see much of anything, let alone make any kind of serious analysis.  So what I am writing is not remotely all-encompassing.  Still, I have been to India enough times and traveled enough in the developing world to be able to make a few reasonably well-informed comparisons.

    22

  • Expanding thoughts on the question “is photography art?”

    While en route to Guangzhou, China, we spent a few fascinating days in Hong Kong. A series of events got me thinking about the old “is photography art?” question. I am not sure that such a question is ever really likely to be fully “settled.” Based on what I saw and did while in Hong Kong, I added a couple of new perspectives to my own thinking about that question. Proof again that one benefit of going half way around the world is that you see things differently after such a trip.

    18

  • China, India and a bit on how I see them both

    I am on my way to China.  I am not going on any work assignment. I am going to accompany my wife, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, (http://annumatthew.com/) who has work in the Guangzhou Photo Biennial.  The hosts at the museum (and the University of Rhode Island) have been especially generous in making her trip possible.  Our abundance of frequent flier miles has made it possible for me to go also. I am going to see China, obviously, but I am also going to see if I can get any perspective on what has changed in China since I went there back in 1986.

    15

  • The importance of portfolio review events (part two)

    In the first part of this two-part posting, I explained the basics of organized portfolio review events. Today, I am writing to share some of the things I learned having been on both sides of the portfolio-reviewing table, as a reviewer and a review-ee. Many (but not all) of the errors I allude to are mistakes I actually made at one point or another.

    11

  • The importance of portfolio review events (part one)

    A portfolio review is when you show your work to another person (duh).  A portfolio review event is a more formalized event where reviewers (editors, curators, image buyers, agents, etc.) gather in one place with explicit plans to look at the work of the review-ees (in our case, photographers.) Portfolio review events have a long and important history in the world of photography. They have also recently turned into something of a big business.  Having been both a reviewer and a review-ee, I can offer perspectives from both sides of the portfolio-reviewing table.

    08

  • Top ten keys to be a successful photojournalist (Part two)

    I just wound up an interesting assignment in California.  I wrote the first half of this two-part blog entry right after the first day of the project.  Now that I have finished and I am writing the second half of the entry, certain points I wanted to share are even clearer to me than when I started.

    04

  • Top ten keys to be a successful photojournalist (Part one)

    I am starting an interesting assignment in California.  So far, it has been a lot of fun, but it has also been a great deal of hard work. To be honest, because I do not work on as many assignments as I once did, I was worried I would be rusty.  In fact it has been quite the opposite. All the skills I developed over the decades that I was doing assignment work came back to me easily, a bit like riding a bicycle (or motorcycle.) Thinking about them led me to writing them down as a blog post.

    01

    • April 2009

  • The art of editing – The editing of art

    In the last week, I have been editing lots of images, looking at thousands and cutting those down to hundreds (or less.) Over the years, I have become a pretty fast editor who can easily articulate why an image does (or does not) work. When a good friend told me she was having trouble editing down her own work, I walked her through some strategies to help her improve her editing skills. By the time we were finished, I realized our conversation was “made” to be a blog entry.

    27

  • Shameless self-promotion

    I am writing today about a variety of resources for photographers.  Of course, the major one that I am thinking about is The Wells Point web site. Yes, this could easily be interpreted as a shameless self-promotion. I prefer to think of it as an information-advisory about all the valuable things on the site. Read the whole post and then you decide.

    24

  • Spring means motor drives and motorcycles

    When mid April rolls around, many things seem to happen all at once. Tax day is the most obvious one. For many photographers in the chilly North East, April is the time to start venturing outside again to photograph regularly. For me, mid-April also means I can start riding my motorcycle after the long winter hiatus. I was out riding recently and I ended up thinking about the similarities (and differences) between the folks outside enjoying their cameras and enjoying their motorcycles.

    20

  • Some thoughts on photo-contests

    If you are a photographer of any kind, you are probably inundated with information on photo contests. I am often overwhelmed by all the entry information that comes via snail mail and e-mail. I personally enter very few contests. I was thinking an explanation of my reasoning might help others as they consider entering contests.

    17

  • The important process of naming a project

    The members of a critique group that I head recently had an email dialogue about what to call one of the member’s ongoing projects.  As the process unfolded, I thought about my own struggles naming my projects and how the naming of a photographic project is arguably the most important step in the process of defining and shaping such a project.

    13

  • What is new on The Wells Point?

    The big news on The Wells Point site is the completion of the photographer’s resource pages. You can start to explore those at: http://www.thewellspoint.com/about/ I have information there (with extensive links,) on artist’s residencies, copyright, fine-art promotional venues, grants, software and stock photography, as well as another twenty-something different categories of information.

    10

  • What kind of tools do I use and why? (Part two)

    I am now heading home after a productive workshop in Guatemala, where the mix of cameras the students had in the class struck me as interesting. The discussion we had around camera choices is something that I thought would interest other photographers. (This is the second of two entries on the topic of what kind of tools I use.)

    06

  • What kind of tools do I use and why? (Part one)

    I am finishing up a great workshop in Guatemala, which has been both fun and also challenging.  As photographers, we had some in depth discussions about problems that we had to resolve so we could make our photographs, discussions which I thought would interest other photographers. (This is the first of two entries on what kind of tools I use.)

    03

    • March 2009

  • Thoughts on web sites for photographers

    A friend asked me about web sites and I got to thinking about my own web site.  I considered how it evolved from a coding disaster, to a nice try, and finally to the real thing.  My path, with all its ups and downs, may be instructive for other photographers thinking about their existing (or) future web sites.

    30

  • Cross-cultural understanding and photography

    I write this at the start of my trip to Guatemala. This is the seventh or eighth time I have been here. When I can, I prefer to visit a place more than once so I can better understand the local culture, see how that changes over time, and of course photograph. Waking up in another country prompted me to think about what I have learned about working in different cultures, which might help other photographers who are planning to do the same.

    27

  • Workshops, teaching and the transformative power of photography.

    I am heading off to Guatemala later this week. Besides getting away from the lingering winter cold in Rhode Island, I am going there to teach. That got me to thinking about workshops and teaching as well as why I do it and the transformative power of photography.

    23

  • From “mad cropper” to full-frame perfectionist

    I almost never crop the photographs that I make. For me, the best images are captured by careful composition in the camera, and not ‘saved” by cropping after the fact. I will be the first to admit that I was not always so disciplined. In tracing my evolution from mad cropper to full frame perfectionist, I realized the idea of not cropping went from technical objective to moral imperative to aesthetic goal and now is a philosophical mission.

    20

  • The symbiosis between personal and commercial work

    Who are you taking pictures for? That’s a question that photojournalists hear a lot. But, I think ALL photographers should be asking themselves that question. In the process of sorting that question out, most photographers divide their efforts into “personal work,” and “commercial work.” I am not so sure about the wisdom of such clear demarcations.

    16

  • Adapting to new technology verses adopting a new philosophy

    As commercial photographers, we are continually adapting to new technologies, moving from black and white, to color (then to slides) and now to digital. Similarly we are often expected to adopt new strategies and philosophies as the market we work within changes.  More and more folks I hear from are finding that second process of adopting harder to take, and I am not sure it is just a function of our advancing ages.

    13

  • The Wells Point after six months

    The Wells Point site is now over six months old. I am still going strong, having written 65 blog entries and posted 13 pod casts. I have learned much along the way, about myself, the folks who visit The Wells Point and a bit about where this enterprise will be going in the future.

    09

  • Does National Public Radio hate photography?

    One of the many great things about listening regularly to National Public Radio (NPR) is their extensive coverage of the arts and culture. They carry numerous freestanding shows (and have numerous reporters/hosts) exploring different aspects of culture and the arts. They usually end each hour of their major daily broadcasts with a report on some aspect of arts and culture.  So why is their a yawning gap in their coverage when it comes to photography?

    06

  • The future of commercial photography and percieved value

    A friend wrote to suggest I “talk about photography as a business and how it relates to our economic times.” I was hesitant at first, unsure what I could add to the discussion since my expertise is minimal when it comes to economics, business or marketing. I thought about it for a while and realized I did have something I could add to the discussion.

    02

    • February 2009

  • Learning how to learn, photographically

    When I went to college, in pursuit of a Bachelor of Liberal Arts, my mother encouraged me to put my energy into what she called “learning how to learn.” I just finished a workshop where a student told me the best part of the class was that he had “learned how to learn the way to make the best photograph possible of a given situation.”

    27

  • Photo-essays, past, present and future

    I have been producing photo-essays in one form or another for a couple decades. In that time, my approach to them has changed, as have the various ways that photo-essays are seen. After a long, slow decline in outlets, a new and exciting one has appeared.

    23

  • The importance of original source material

    My daughter was recently talking to me about her growing passion for studying history, primarily through what she said were the best part, original source material. That reminded me of two points in my early life as a photographer, when what is now known as original source material changed my perspective on photography.

    20

  • The latest in electronic flash in my camera bag

    As promised, this blog entry will not include any writing about my “philosophy.” For the moment, I have happily returned to talking about cameras and photographing. In this post I am going to highlight the other new and important piece of gear in my camera bag.

    16

  • The best flash card wallet I have ever used

    Regular readers of this blog may be wondering when I am going to stop writing about my “philosophy” and return to talking about cameras and photographing. I will right now. In this post, I am going to highlight one of the most important pieces of gear in my camera bag.

    13

  • The transformative power of my first grant

    One of the first grants that I ever received was not a particularly big one, but it was an important one.  It taught me many lessons that I still follow to this day. It changed my life as a photographer.  That grant still exists today and I was surprised/pleased to get a recent update about it.

    09

  • The workshop I always wanted to attend

    As an aspiring documentary photographer/photo-essayist there was always one workshop I always wanted to attend, but I never could. Now that I am in fact “established,” there is one workshop I really want to teach, but I wonder if other students would want to attend such a workshop.

    06

  • My “brief stint” as a fashion photographer

    I was reading an interesting article in The New York Times about the Presidential dress code.  Barack Obama’s recent choice to be photographed without his suit jacket in the Oval Office was front-page news. It rang a bell and then I remembered how another President’s fashion choices changed my life as a photographer.

    02

    • January 2009

  • Long time coming

    I am often asked, what am I working on now? Like many people, I have lots of things in the works. I am pleased that some of these efforts have recently come to fruition, after the typically long time cycle that is common to this business and sometimes frustrating to me.

    30

  • Photographs as mirrors and windows

    I often tell my students that their best photographs are the ones that reflect their personalities, life experiences and outlooks.  I was recently giving a presentation, when an audience member’s question stopped me cold and forced me to articulate how that same idea has played out in my own work.

    26

  • The life and death and life of Polaroid pictures

    Polaroids, those instant-developing images that we all came to love, seem like they would have become quaint in the digital age. Still the saga of Polaroid’s “images in an instant,” having gone through many incarnations over the years, continues. In fact, I just started using the first Polaroid product I have owned in a long time.

    23

  • How I learned to critique photographs

    I was reviewing another photographer’s work recently. Left and right, I was tossing off suggestions for improving the images. Though I was thinking intensely about the work, I was largely unaware of my own process, as I critiqued the work. When she asked me how I had learned to critique images so fluidly, I was stopped in my tracks.

    19

  • Where I learned the most about photographing

    I recently realized that if I carefully look at my career as a photographer, I can pinpoint where I learned the most about the act of photographing.  It was not in high school, where I learned the craft of photography.  Nor was it in college, where my study of the history of photography taught me about the art of photography.  It was in a different place, one that I fear is fast disappearing from the photographic landscape.

    16

  • “Hitting the wall” when it comes to learning new technologies

    I was having a conversation (via e-mail) with a friend/photographer in California, named Michael. It quickly grew from a personal discussion to something much more philosophical. It started on photography but ended up being about much larger issues.

    12

  • Blurring the lines between art and commerce

    You hear and read a lot about how the lines between the worlds of art photography and commercial photography are continually being blurred. In most ways that is good.  I recently lived through a particularly interesting experience that shows just how much these once distinctive realms are blurring.

    09

  • The questions I would ask any accomplished photographer.

    If I could corner an accomplished photographer in a bar and ask them anything, the questions I would ask are not the ones you might expect. They have little to do with the camera brand they use, the paper they print on or the bag they carry.

    05

  • What makes a great photography workshop?

    I have posed this question to thousands of photography students. Some were in my workshops, others had worked with other teachers and many had done both. Base on what they told me, I think I have a good idea what makes a great photography workshop.  I am happy to share that, (in what I hope is only a mildly self-promoting blog entry.)

    02

    • December 2008

  • Important things to know about the business of photography

    If it seems like I am obsessed with the business of photography, I am.  That is mostly because I make my living as a photographer so the general state of the photography market interests (and impacts) me directly.  However, I am also interested on a more philosophical level.

    29

  • Cameras do not make pictures, people do!

    As I was flying cross-country recently to the warmth of sunny California, I was catching up on all the newspapers that had accumulated on my kitchen table. As a photographer, one item really caught my attention.

    26

  • The Internet is grand, isn’t it?

    I was struggling as I tried not to write one more blathering post along the lines of “Ain’t the internet grand?” After pummeling myself about that for a while, I gave up, so here goes.

    22

  • “Do It Yourself” Flash Gel Kit

    Periodically, I see things on the web that leave me stunned. Many involve other people’s stupidity. Some involve equally striking acts of creativity. Some of the best, to me, are those showing simple and elegant ways to modernize small but important photographic tool.

    19

  • Photography, poetry and crossing disciplines

    I stumbled across a great quote recently. It is about poets, but I immediately thought how it applies to photographers. Following on my last entry, about the importance of practice, I got to thinking about how a lot of things cross the lines that appear to divide different mediums, but really are common to most all of them.

    15

  • The role that practice plays in photography

    I just finished teaching a class on the basics of multimedia, at Calumet photo http://www.calumetphoto.com in NYC. I was teaching members of Professional Women Photographers http://www.pwponline and staying with friends who live in NYC. The class, and the time with my friends, who are also photographers, reminded me of the very important (but usually under appreciated) role that practice plays in good photography.

    12

  • Which is the best tripod

    I just finished teaching a great class at the Lepp Institute http://www.leppinstitute.com/courses.htm called exploring “Light, Shadow, Twilight and Night: Using Available Light.” Obviously, we worked a lot at twilight and into the night and I was repeatedly asked, which is the best tripod?

    08

  • What every photographer should know about model releases

    Model releases seem to be the source of more confusion than almost any other aspect of photography for aspiring (and established) professionals. I am asked about them during every class or presentation that I give. The irony is that model releases are remarkably simple.

    05

  • The history of photography of California farmworkers

    In politics there is the so-called “Washington read” which, according to Word Spy is: “The perusal of a book in a bookstore that consists of checking the index for references to oneself and reading only those parts of the book.” I never thought I would live to see the day when I did my own version of the “Washington read” of a book, but that happened recently.

    01

    • November 2008

  • Taking photo contests seriously

    A friend asked me if I could help her set up a photo-contest for her non-profit educational institution. I told her I do enter some photo contests, but I am quite leery of many, because they are often little more than easy ways for groups to gather imagery for their own use at little or no cost to them. I think I know a bad photo contest when I read the rules but what I really wanted to send her was resources for knowing what a “good” photo contest is, in terms of being fair to the photographers.

    28

  • Exactly what is “stock photography?”

    I make most of my income from what is called “stock photography.” It is, according to http://www.stockphoto.net, “existing photography that is available for commercial use — as opposed to assignment photography, which is custom made to someone’s specifications.” Getting paid for existing images sounds like easy money, but it is anything but easy.

    24

  • Marketing is the key to being a professional photographer

    The longer I work as a professional photographer, the more I am reminded that taking pictures is the easiest part of this job. The hardest part is marketing your work and yourself. I have tried various marketing strategies over the years, some more successful than others. All of them are built on the idea of regularly getting your work in front of the folks who will pay to use your images. So how do you find those folks?

    21

  • Making inexpensive, high quality, archival photographic prints

    An exhibition of what I call my “light study” work just closed in Providence. One of the many fun things about this show was that it featured my newest color “light study” work. In the past, this work was only in black and white, so this is a new and exciting direction for me. You can read more about the new work here: http://meredithcutler.com/image/david-h-wells-light-studies-for-artscope-magazine-septoct-2008.

    17

  • Finding photographers, image piracy and what really matters

    It is not news that the world is awash with images (and photographers). Digital photography having made this problem grow by a factor of ten (or more) is also not a revelation. I was reminded of these points as I was nurturing another set of image-makers who aspire to go out into the world of commercial photography.

    14

  • A cross-cultural photography workshop experience

    I just finished teaching a particularly fascinating workshop in Singapore through an organization called Objectifs. In my best workshops, and this was one, I learned as much as I taught.

    10

  • Color calibration made easy and accurate

    One other piece of technology I discovered at the recent Photo Expo in NYC that really struck a chord with me was the Color Munki. It enables you to calibrate your entire color printing system, both printer AND your monitor screen, so they are all speaking the same language when it comes to color.

    07

  • Zen and the Art of Motordrive (thoughts on teaching/part 2)

    Continued from previous post: In those workshops, I work to get the students to do many things such as assemble a set of images with a point of view or to use light and shadow to improve their images. First, they must master the machine in their hands, the camera. Much of the time is spent on buttons and settings. F-stops and shutter speeds dominate the conversations.

    03

    • October 2008

  • Zen and the Art of Motordrive (thoughts on teaching/part 1)

    I come from a family of teachers. My mother was a teacher and later a principal. “First female principal in her district” she would proudly tell anyone who would listen. She briefly tried to get me hooked on teaching right after college, as a substitute teacher in the district where she worked.

    31

  • Highlights from the PhotoPlus expo in NYC

    There were hundreds of new and interesting things to see at the PhotoPlus expo in NYC. A couple jumped out at me as interesting and important to the aspiring and accomplished photographers who visit this site.

    27

  • The Wells point goes live

    I am excited to announce that The Wells Point website, in development for months, went live on Wednesday, October 22nd. This was just as I was preparing to attend (and present a seminar) at the huge Photo Plus trade show in New York City.

    24

  • B + W fiber prints from digital files

    Though I work primarily in color, I have a long time love of black and white photography. For me the Holy Grail of black and white would be to merge digital capture with conventional, fiber-based output.

    20

  • Interesting and important color test

    I was introduced to an interesting and important color test that any photographer working with color imagery should take.

    17

  • Doing it for money

    Here are a few more great resources on the business of photography for those interested in “doing it for money.”

    13

  • Portugese photography festival

    I was connected to information on an interesting photography festival in Chaves, Portugal.

    10

  • Keeping up on the stock photography business

    If you are interested as I am in keeping up with developments in the rapidly changing world of stock photography, you should be reading a new blog called “about the image.”

    06

  • Visual search engine

    Right now, if you want to search for an image, you are limited to searching using keywords. TinEye is a new and possibly revolutionary visual search engine currently in beta testing.

    03

    • September 2008

  • My favorite photography book

    One of my favorite photography books of all time is a remarkably simple book called On Being A Photographer.

    29

  • Model Release issues

    I am regularly asked when a Model Release is needed.

    26

  • Lists of awards, prizes or grants

    There is a new blog attempting to “bring together a listing of all the awards, prizes or grants which are given in the various fields of arts.”

    22

  • Photography driven Marketing campaign

    My agency, Aurora photos, is running an interesting marketing campaign that explores both the artistic and commercial aspects of photography.

    19

  • Orphan Works

    “Orphan Works” legislation has been in the news recently. That legislation is still in flux. No matter what happens, making sure that you control the use of your images is more important than ever.

    15

  • Portfolio reviews

    The biennial portfolio reviews in Portland, Oregon scheduled for 2009 are now open for registration.

    12

  • Copyright information

    You may have heard or read about new federal legislation on the subject of what are called “Orphan Works.”

    08

  • David Wells “in the news”

    One place you can see what I have been up to is on a blog posting written about me.

    05

  • Business Resources

    Probably because I make my living as a photographer, I talk a lot about the business side of photography.

    01

    • August 2008

  • A “knock around” camera

    If you are like me, you probably have been looking for a “point-and-shoot” camera to use when you would rather not carry your “work” camera. Some folks call these cameras “knock around” cameras, to be used when you are just “knocking around.”

    29

  • Audio for multimedia

    It has been exciting to start experimenting in multi-media in my own work, mixing sound and images. As my grandfather used to say about so many things, “they tell me it’s the future.”

    25

  • “Opportunities” for photographers

    I read a lot of stuff, every day, offering “opportunities” for photographers. Many of those are suspect, at best. Here are THREE interesting opportunities.

    22

  • Interesting products

    In my own work, I have started working with the lensbabies, which I like a lot. These are a couple examples:

    18

  • Starting the blog;].

    I am new to blogging so I will mostly be writing about things that I encounter in my daily routine as a photographer. Some will be about the business of photography and others about the craft. Still others will focus on the creative side of the medium.

    15

  • The background of the Wells Point - the idea

    The idea for the Wells Point came out of experiences I had teaching photography over the last decade.

    11

  • What is the Wells Point?

    What exactly is the Wells Point?

    The Wells Point is a web site with video podcasts and free information for aspiring and accomplished photographers.

    08

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